Lokodo bounces back, defends Shs100bn for corruption fight

Minister for Ethics and Integrity, Fr Simon Lokodo said they need an additional Shs11b to implement corruption policy for one financial year. (FILE PHOTO)

KAMPALA– After losing the Nyege Nyege battle to the ‘devil’, ethics minister, Simon Lokodo, has bounced back with ‘robust’ urge to fight corruption.

Minister Lokodo who was speaking at Uganda Media Centre during a weekly media briefing said the country’s motto no longer invokes nationalistic feelings among a section of countrymen and women.

Lokodo said that he intends to rely mainly on the zero tolerance to corruption policy which was approved by Cabinet last week to cure corruption.

Also responding to criticism and comments from journalists that the policy could come to naught and sh117b he needs to implement it might get stolen, the minister said, the fight against corruption, like any other project, requires substantial amounts of money.

“We already have sh106b. We need an additional Shs11b to implement this policy for one financial year. Fighting corruption requires money because you have to train people and procure equipment. You need logistics, human resource and build capacity to match the sophisticated nature of the criminals,” Lokodo said at on Tuesday morning.

In addition to funding the Inspectorate of Government, the Anti-Corruption Court, the Public Accounts Committee in Parliament, the Auditor General Office and other audits, the Government, each financial year, will be allocating funds to enforce the zero tolerance to corruption policy.

Under the new arrangement, according to minister Lokodo, all ministries, departments, and agencies, will be required to create units to detect and nip corruption in the bud.

“We are going to build synergies and capacities,” the minister revealed adding that the said units in government institutions will detect and report signs of corruption before corruption can be committed.

However, anti-corruption agencies have punched holes in the government initiative saying it will instead create more problems for Uganda.

Cissy Kagaba, the head of the Anti-Corruption Coalition, the country already has a robust legal framework and the problem has been implementation.

“If we do not do that we shall be fighting a losing battle and new institutions will not help. Kagaba said adding that “I don’t think we need more policies to fight corruption.”